1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking mechanism and, more particularly, to a locking mechanism for electrical appliances, electronic products or an information apparatus. The present invention is especially suitable for a computer server housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical electrical appliance, electronic product or information apparatus usually needs a locking mechanism to lock a door or a cover of the product on a housing or a frame. For example, a computer server housing utilizes screws to lock a cover of the housing onto a frame of the housing.
Besides utilizing screws, there are some other alternative locking methods, such as a link bar locking mechanism. Please refer to FIG. 5. In a prior art link bar locking mechanism, a shaft 91 is rotated, which drives two link bars 92, 93 along two sides of the shaft 91, moving the link bars 92, 93 up and down. Ends of the two link bars 92, 93 are respectively wedged into locking holes 95 of a frame 94 to lock the cover 90. The two link bars 92, 93 move in a simple harmonic motion, but when the shaft 91 is rotated, each angle of rotation may provide a different force, which may cause an unbalanced motion to the two link bars 92, 93 during a locking or a unlocking procedure of the cover 90. Furthermore, this link bar mechanism requires many screws, which leads to a higher number of parts, added assembly times and general inconvenience.
A main objective of the present invention is to provide a locking mechanism with a simplified structural design to reduce the overall number of parts number, and to provide a more convenient and balanced locking mechanism.
To achieve these objectives, the locking mechanism of the present invention is mounted on a cover to lock the cover onto a frame, the cover having a circular hole and at least one first horizontal sliding element placed in a protruding manner thereon, the frame having at least one first horizontal fastening element.
The locking mechanism includes a sliding sheet, rotating sheet and a handle shaft. The sliding sheet has at least one second horizontal sliding element, at least one second horizontal fastening element, at least one second cam element and an aperture. The rotating sheet has at least one first cam element, a central hole and at least one engaging section. The handle shaft is inserted through the circular hole, the aperture and the central hole to rotationally mount the rotating sheet on the cover. The handle shaft has at least one engaging portion placed corresponding to the engaging section of the rotating sheet to drive the rotating sheet to rotate around the central hole. The first cam element of the rotating sheet drives the second cam element of the sliding sheet by way of rotation, and so the second horizontal fastening element of the sliding sheet slides towards the first horizontal sliding element of the cover and the second horizontal fastening element of the sliding sheet fastens to the first horizontal fastening element of the frame. For unlocking, if the handle shaft is rotated in the opposite direction, the second fastening element of the sliding sheet will detach from the first fastening element of the frame.
As a consequence, a horizontal speed of motion of the sliding sheet with respect to the cam rotation is proportional to the rotational angle of the handle shaft, and so there is no unbalanced force caused by the handle shaft. Moreover, the locking mechanism has a simple structure, having none of the problems associated with the prior art link bar mechanism, and can simplify the structural design to reduce the number of parts number and improve the convenience and prevent unbalanced motion.
The handle shaft of the present invention further includes at least one hook attached on the rotating sheet to rotationally mount the rotating sheet onto the cover. Other fastening methods may also be used.
The first horizontal sliding element of the cover may be a guide block and the second horizontal sliding element of the sliding sheet a horizontal slot, or vice versa. The second cam element of the sliding sheet may be a guiding pin and the first cam element of the rotating sheet an arc-shaped cam slot, or vice versa. To provide for a more smooth rotation of the rotating sheet, a plurality of protrusions may be disposed against the sliding sheet to reduce friction between the rotating sheet and the sliding sheet. The protrusions may also be disposed on the sliding sheet.
Other objectives, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.